


A Cut Below the Rest

by coffeehouseGod



Category: Naruto
Genre: Crack Treated Seriously, Don't Examine This Too Closely, Gen, Headcanon, I Tried, I better start typing, I swear this isn't a self insert, I will update tags as I write, It's safe to say they hate each other right now, Murder, Team Dynamics, This is gonna be 60+ chapters, probably
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-16
Updated: 2019-02-22
Packaged: 2019-10-10 23:53:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,196
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17435873
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/coffeehouseGod/pseuds/coffeehouseGod
Summary: I did a Naruto CYOA and thought to myself, that would be a cool story.  I decided to look for fanfics about shinobi oc's growing up in different villages, but I couldn't find any I enjoyed.  Now I decided to write this as a way to improve my writing and make the fanfiction I want.





	1. Idiot Murder Child

**Author's Note:**

> As a precursor to this story, I am not a weeb, I am not going to use suffix's. I will specify later what suffix's are used if the need arises.

The mist was cool and fresh.  It had always been around, but on this day, it was especially noticeable.  The ample mist gave way to the rising grey buildings, covered in vegetation.

In the village of Kirigakure, nearly everyone wanted to be one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. Not a lot of people knew about the process to become a member, but it was still recognised that those who became one of the seven were the elites.

Within the class, talk of graduation was on everyone’s mind.  They had all heard stories of the horrors that shinobi had to go through in order to graduate.  They had expected torture and fear in order to graduate, but it was all regarded in an exaggerated fashion.

The teacher had walked up to the front of the group, telling everyone to spread out.  The children had been waiting for this very moment. They were not prepared.

**…**

Morihisa Midorinashi is a weak student.  He can tell that his teacher doesn’t think he will graduate.  The way shinobi have looked at him when they realized he was in training to be a ninja, he could tell they didn’t believe in him succeeding.  In all honesty, he hated these people. How dare they look down on him, ignoring his effort.

Morihisa starts running to class, a little late.  He should have woken up earlier, but stayed up late studying.  On his way to school, he runs into a young boy, no older than 9.  The kid looked back at him, boredom dancing in his eyes.

“Hey, kid.  Why are you here? Admissions don’t start for a couple of months.”  The child looked up at Morihisa, and grinned. It was as if a demon had had risen from the earth and up the student's spine.

The young boy responded, “I don’t need to be admitted.”, before leaning against the wall.  The boy opened his mouth again, his teeth almost like a row of fangs, “You should probably go inside.”

Morihisa felt a cold sweat the boy’s words, but quickly felt himself getting used to the fear.  He wondered if that should concern him, but decided to put off that feeling until later. He walked into the classroom, and almost instantly stopped at the sharp coppery smell.

The room had been filled with the bodies of his classmates and the teacher, watching horrified.  A sickening feeling came up Morihisa’s throat, before he swallowed it down. The student walked into the room, before noticing three other students left, injured, but alive.

The teacher looked up at him, before curtly stating  “Midorinashi, you’re lucky to be late.” The teacher, making a single mark on his clipboard, sighed.  “You are one of the few outliers in this class. The final exam was to kill one of your other academy students.  There was someone who was impressive enough to kill 100 of them though.”

The teacher’s casual nature built a fury within the student.  It was almost like the teacher hadn’t considered their lives to have any shinobi at all.  Then he remembered. This is what school had been preparing them all for, he just hadn't paid enough attention.  They had always been taught that to become a ninja, was to become a tool for war.

Morihisa picked one of the bloody kunai up from the dead body, and walked over to the now traumatized students.  The teacher peered at him, “What are you doing?” The boy said nothing back. His eyes stung with tears and the back of his throat felt electrified, and he was swallowed by the blood pumping in his head.  Morihisa decided he was going to become a ninja, and allowed a set of fangs to smile back.


	2. Sir you don't understand, this is my comfort headband.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Explanations and the start of a team. Yeah I know a lot of this is probably head-canon, but that doesn't mean anyone can stop my stupidity.

The Mizukage’s office. The building was very spacious, the wide hallways covered in looming shadows. Only a few shinobi chose to stay in the drab building without some sort of incentive.

  
The Mizukage was very young, but still rather threatening, so when he said things needed to be done, people generally did them. That was somewhat the situation Morihisa, a genin in the Village Hidden in the Mist.

  
Morihisa was stocky, but it was easy to tell that that was not from working out. His clothes mostly consisted of a set of light brown pants and a green jacket. His hair was a very messy and wavy blond

  
As the young ninja neared the Kage’s office, he spotted a kid. Now, this usually wouldn’t be something anyone should care for, but this kid was special. His name was Zabuza Mamochi. Zabuza was a relatively average size for a nine year old, but he was a little fitter in terms of muscles than one would expect. He had short black spiky hair, accompanied with his almost greying skin and a set of sharp teeth.

  
Usually, Morihisa would stop and talk to anyone in the desolate building, but Zabuza was different.

  
Zabuza turned and looked at the genin. “Hey loser. Impressive bandages, where’d you get them?”

  
One look at Morihisa’s face, and anyone observant could see the bandages running across his mouth. Along the left side there were splatters of dried blood.  
Morihisa looked back, sneering at the boy. “Shut up, demon child.” The door to the office opened, and the two young shinobi walked inside.

  
Inside, the Mizukage, Yagura Karatachi, was sitting at his desk. Alongside him was a short, stout man who was holding an axe chained to a large hammer. Zabuza looked them both over with apprehension, preparing for whatever could happen. Morihisa recognised the man as one of the Seven Swordsman, and thus guessed the weapon with him to be the Kabutowari, one of said legendary swords.

  
Yagura spoke to both of them in a very detached manner. “Greetings. You two are the sole survivors of your graduating class. Congratulations. Both of you scored higher than previously thought possible.” The Mizukage grabbed a report on his desk. “Zabuza Mamochi, you managed to kill 100 students in total, before even becoming a student. The villagers have even given you a nickname, the Demon of the Mist. I have no doubt that news of your actions will give you a name across the ninja world.” Yagura gestured to Morihisa. “Morihisa Midorinashi. You managed to kill the three classmates that Zabuza missed. It appears that this has been overshadowed by Zabuza’s feat, though. I understand that both of your parents had died as shinobi. What do you know of your family line?”

  
At this, Morihisa was perplexed. He had realized that the Mizukage would know more than him about his family, as they were shinobi, but Yagura was only a few years older than him, and he couldn’t think of anything significant enough for mention. “I know that they were ninjas. They both died while on missions within the Anbu. Outside of that, I do not know much else about my family.”

  
The stout man nodded, before speaking. “Okay. My name is Jinin Akebino, and from now on, I will be your teacher. You will refer to me as Akebino. We have one more student that you two will be working with.”

  
With that, Mizukage Yagura Karatachi laid two Kirigakure headbands along the desk, inviting the two to take them.  
After retrieving their headbands and putting them on, they exited, following Jinin out of the building.

  
**…**

  
After walking for seven minutes, the group had reached a bridge. Even though it was only a little bit of time, Zabuza and Morihisa were in a light argument.

  
Morihisa crossed his arms and looked up at the sky, “How would you even become a chunin? You haven’t studied any of the basic knowledge required for a ninja.”

  
Zabuza huffed, angrily pointed at Morihisa, and growled back, “It doesn’t really matter, if I beat the entire competition to death.”

  
Akebino looked back at the two, raising a hand for them to stop. Across the bridge a kunoichi stood.

  
Out of the genin there, she appeared the most ready for shinobi work. She looked to be about 11, so older than Zabuza, but younger than Morihisa. She wore her headband around her neck, and had on a standard blue ninja outfit. On both of her legs were adorned with shuriken holders. On the back of her waist, there was a pouch, presumably full of ninja weapons. Her hair was short and red, her eyes a stern emerald.

  
Akebino looked at Zabuza and Morihisa, gesturing to the girl. “This is your teammate, Mei Terumi. She knows of you two.” With that, Akebino leaned onto the side, the three genin standing in front of him. “As you all know, I am your teacher and squad leader from now on. Usually you would have been given to a jonin that was selected beforehand, but you two,” he said pointing at the boys, “are the only two graduates and you,” he said pointing to Mei, “have already been training under me.”

  
Akebino took a moment to size up each of the students. He spoke to all three of them. “I’m not that good at teaching, so I’ll just give you the lessons you need to succeed. Before we get started though, I want to hear what you are all like.”

  
The only noticeable reaction from this is a scoff from Zabuza.

  
“You will learn about me with time, but for now, you should at least know about each other. Mei, you start to give them an example.” Akebino gestured over to Mei.

  
Mei turns to the two boys, her mouth pursed and arms crossed. “My name is Mei Terumi. I wish to one day become a kunoichi strong enough to change and fix the village.” With that, she tilts her head up and looks down at both of the boys. “I enjoy reading novels and training. I dislike being insulted by people and unnecessary cruelty."

  
All three paused for a moment, an awkward silence filling the space as neither Morihisa or Zabuza chose to speak. Before Akebino could tell one of them to speak, Morihisa popped up and sai, “I guess I’ll go next.”

  
“My name is Morihisa Midorinashi. I’ve always wanted want to become one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen one day. I guess I enjoy studying, and other things...and I would say that I dislike people who don’t take being a shinobi seriously?”

  
Mei raised an eyebrow at this. “Was it supposed to be a question?”

  
Morihisa panicked, before quickly stammering, “No?”

  
...

  
“Okay, we’re moving on. My name is Zabuza Mamochi. I want to become Mizukage. I don’t like anything in particular, but I don’t think I dislike anything either.” Zabuza paused for a moment, before looking up into the sky. “Actually, no. I dislike people who think they’re better than everyone else, yeah, I’ll go with that.”

  
Akebino got up, walking over to the three. So, let’s begin training.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realized that this way of them introducing themselves was a little superficial, so they will learn more about each other over the course of the entire fic. These introductions will just be how they initially perceive each other.
> 
> I like this theory on Zabuza, think I'll run with it: https://icecurse.tumblr.com/post/181500655944/on-zabuza-momochi-and-the-land-he-could-not-bear
> 
> Next Chapter will be training, angst, and growing as a team.


	3. Understanding is stupid

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First Mission. A group of idiots has a relatively easy single chapter conflict. Don't worry. I'm already constructing some real trouble.

The mist was thick, to the point where you couldn’t see any more than a couple feet in front of yourself. The mist seemed to invite anyone looking into it, like an animal baring it’s teeth, ready to devour those foolish enough to come close.

Right in the thick of the mist, there were three people standing there.

One of them, with messy black hair, sat with their legs crossed. With a fanged mouth, the figure bit into a half eaten (cooked) fish on a stick.

Next to the figure there was one, with blond hair and a deep jagged scar from it’s mouth to it’s cheek, reading a book, and one with auburn hair, practicing hand signs.

Through the fog, one could see that the area was not particularly desirable. There was clusters of trash nearby, rats scuttling through the mess. Despite the mist, people seemed to move through it, clearly bothered by it, but choosing to move on with their lives.

There were prostitutes and dealers on nearly every corner. Gangs of people walked around as if they owned the place. A cheap bar’s revelry and drunkenness poured out through it’s single window.

A short and stout man appeared above the three. “Have you all killed each other yet?”

The three figures, which beforehand would and should have been assumed to be part of the wildlife, morphed into the three genin. They were casually standing on the water, only the blond one sinking a little into the murky river below.

The girl with auburn looked up, before stretching and shouting up, “Are we finally going on a mission? It’s getting boring training day-in day-out.”

The other two perked up at the word mission, both looking at the wall and looking it up and down.

The girl noticed, more or less jumping at the thought of finally doing something instead of these basic exercises.

With that, the girl took one large leap, landing on the side of the bridge. The black-haired boy was the quickest to react, jumping onto the side railing and flipping himself up. The blond boy, noticing that the two were already up, dashed up the side, clamoring to get up to the group.

Once up there, the stout man smiled, a wide show of fangs, glistening a bit in the mist. “Some punks are supposedly starting a civil war, we’ve been called to put them in their place.”  
The child with black hair smirked, still holding the fish. Then he smiled, a demonic aura flowing off of him. “Sounds like fun.”

  
**…**

  
Jinin Akebino and Zabuza Momochi were smiling wide from their cover, a small lake around 70 meters from the compound they were hunting.

Jinin looked at the building that housed their targets. He looked back at the other two, Morihisa taking note of the environment and Mei watching the two guards that patrolled the perimeter.

Akebino looked back and started speaking. “Listen up. We could just run in and kill them, but this is a great chance to teach you the basics of two techniques. The first is the Kirigakure no Jutsu, or the hiding in the mist technique. The second is the Muon Satsujin Jutsu, or the Silent Killing technique.”

Mei was ready, preparing to perform the technique and rush the building. Zabuza tried to subtly look over Morihisa’s shoulder at the notes he decided to write.

After showing the boys the technique, the squad prepared to launch an attack.

Before they dashed out of cover, Morihisa stopped them. “Hey, Akebino. I got a cool trick, can I try it out? Plus Mei gave me some ideas while training.” Upon hearing this Mei looked incredulously at Morihisa. Looking at her, he said, “We were sparring with each other on water for two weeks, of course I picked something up.”

Upon hearing the plan, it was decided that Morihisa take care of the guards and watch the perimeter. Mei and Zabuza would go in the compound and kill the 29 now missing-nin. Akebino decided that he could show off the ability by taking out the jonin that appointed himself leader.

Starting the attack, they went in.

  
**…**

 

For the guards out front, a thick mist suddenly rolled in over the regular mist. As the mist rolled past them, several figures appeared in the distance. The guards called for others in the compound, with about three other ninja coming out. The figures, stayed on the edge of the clearing, watchin the ninja with animalistic hunger.

The group readied their blades, fearfully looking out into the darkness, the shadows peering into their souls. Then, with virtually no warning, the squadron appeared in the mist. Three of the guards were hit by a wall of acid, spit by Mei. Zabuza rushed in with Akebino, blood splattering from both of their kills.

As the blood splattered onto the group, Morihisa and Mei snarled at the two. “You didn’t have to be that messy.” Morihisa snarled, his fangs peaking out as he did. Mei gave them a once over, sighing to herself and saying “This is honestly not the worst.”

Zabuza rushed in, ignoring them. Akebino shrugged, before pulling out his legendary weapon and rushing in.

The next half hour was spent sitting in silence as the two genin sat outside.

Morihisa looked over, “Hey, I have a question. When did you graduate from the academy?”

Mei jolted up, her voice hollow and sour, “Nine.”

“Woah, that’s the same as Zabuza’s. Someone of your skill should have become a chunin by now, right?” Morihisa inquired.

Mei turned away, voice stern. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

Morihisa looked up at the sky, feeling the grooves of his scar. “I understand. You know, the whole ‘event’ just feels so detached from me. It’s like it happened to someone else. In all honesty, I don’t even remember the names of my classmates.”

“...”

“I got worried when I saw my teeth the next morning. I thought I had become a demon or some shit. Apparently it just naturally occurs. It’s weird. Usually these things are hereditary, but I guess we just picked them up.”

“You like talking, don’t you?” Mei asked.

“Hehe,sorry.”

  
**…**

 

Akebino and Zabuza came out carrying a bunch of weapons. Zabuza grinned ear to ear, rifling through the pile, before taking the standard tantō and other rudimentary tools.

Akebino began walking away, shouting back, “Be prepared for a journey tomorrow, pack everything you own. [Morihisa opens his mouth] Yes, Morihisa, I know that it’s not ‘practical’ to do, but trust me! Cya tomorrow!”

Morihisa took up an oddity in the cluster of stolen tools. A greatsword. He strapped it to his back instantly. He also picked up some explosive tags. Mei on the other hand refused to pick up the stolen weapons..

Items successfully picked up, the trio began to walk to town. Most of the day had been spent on the mission, and the mist had been coming to it’s worst. While people generally adapted to the mist, their vision becoming more suited for the dark and cloudy surroundings, it still took most some time and frequency to see through the night.

Through the dark, there was a small glow coming from inside the restaurant. Zabuza’s stomach growled, but after stopping for a moment, he continued walking.

“Hey, demon child!” Morihisa shouted, looking exasperated. “We’re getting some food! I’ll kick your ass if you don’t come with!”

Zabuza paused for a moment, before looking back, his eyes holding back happy tears, his face contorted into a smirk. “You couldn’t if you tried, loser.” They all walked into the restaurant, their departure covered by the mist.

  
**…**

 

The mist blanketed the village. Darkness was the only thing that seeped through the already dull air. In the corners, the mist almost creates monsters to fear. But in the dredges of the village, among the monsters and fear, lies a restaurant called ‘Lighthouse Hideout’. It truly did fit the part usually blending into the mist, unless someone was out at night. A hideout during the day and a lighthouse at night, a decent idea.

Usually this place is not particularly special, but tonight, among the stragglers, a group of teens argued and laughed, competing over nothing and beginning the slow process to understanding.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> By next chapter, I will have the complete of the group's stats. Plus, they will start joking around as they know each other better. Insurgencies happen pretty often in the village.

**Author's Note:**

> That was chapter one. Next chapter will be more fun (hopefully). And much longer. This was basically just an introduction.


End file.
